We all love Coffee due to its characteristic aroma and mind wakening properties. Coffee is the most consumed brewed beverage in the world. In fact, as per statistics, in 2021, a whopping 166.63 million bags of 60-kilogram Coffee were consumed worldwide.
But apart from its flavour and wonderful aroma, Coffee is mainly consumed due to its stimulatory effects on our nervous system. The coffee consumer feels alert and awake, but aside from its stimulatory effects, Coffee is well known as beneficial for our health.
Consuming Coffee is beneficial in certain disease conditions, so this article focuses on the health benefits of Coffee, which include its role as a stimulant, inflammation reduction, effects on the liver, antioxidant, etc.
Components of Coffee:
Since ancient times, Coffee has been consumed, first by Arabs and then gradually spreading worldwide. Coffee boosts our energy levels by stimulating our central nervous system. It may also increase alertness and improve concentration.
Today’s techniques for brewing coffee are almost the same as the original process used. Once the Coffee is brewed, it contains
- Magnesium
- Vitamin B (Niacin, Riboflavin)
- Magnesium
- Carbohydrates
- Fibers
- Caffeine
- Chlorogenic acid
- Caffeic acid
- Ferulic Acid
- Hydroxyhydroquinone (HHQ)
- Cafestol
- Kahweol
Coffee as a stimulant:
Everyone knows that Coffee acts as a stimulant; in fact, it is the most commonly used stimulant that has been used for a long time in human history. Caffeine is the main ingredient which exhibits stimulatory effects in Coffee, and Its stimulatory effects are well established and proven.
Caffeine acts on our central nervous system (CNS). It inhibits adenosine receptors in our brain, which helps in inducing sleep and relaxation. Inhibition of adenosine leads to awakening and staying alert.
Apart from the stimulant effect of Coffee, one of the health benefits of Coffee is that it improves our brain’s cognitive function.
Studies show that consuming 50-600mg of caffeine daily improves the brain’s cognitive function, including creativity, increased vigilance, increased attention, decreased fatigue, and improved mood. Hence it is widely used by most creators, students, thinkers, philosophers etc.
Reducing inflammation:
One of the many health benefits of Coffee is reduced inflammatory responses produced due to underlying chronic diseases.
Constituents found in coffee act as an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. These are proven to reduce the C-reactive protein levels (CRP), a marker for inflammation in the human body.
The CRP levels or c-reactive proteins are produced by our liver in case of inflammation in the body; the higher the inflammation higher the infection or severe the disease condition.
Consuming coffee reduces the CRP levels in many disease conditions, indicating that inflammation or disease condition is controlled.
Beneficial Effects on Liver:
The health benefits of coffee on our liver are remarkable. In multiple studies, the consumption of Coffee is found to be beneficial for patients with hepatitis C. Coffee contains several compounds, and one of its main components is caffeine.
These studies show that patients consuming Coffee 2-3 cups a day show a remarkable improvement in their LFTs (Liver functioning tests), mainly with reduced AST (aspartate aminotransferases), ALP (Alkaline phosphatase) and bilirubin and an increased serum albumin level. Also, it reduced lesions (scars on the liver) and fibrosis of the liver.
Coffee As Antioxidant:
The oxidation process occurs in our body daily. The free radicals produced in our body due to oxidation are harmful and damage our body.
The free radicals increase oxidative stress in our body, which causes tissue damage and alteration of protein and DNA structure in the body. An increase in oxidative stress is also one of the causes of many diseases like diabetes, heart disease some cancers.
Many of the health benefits of Coffee is that it is rich in antioxidants, especially chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid and ferulic acid.
These antioxidants are proven to reduce oxidative stress and free radicals in the body. These antioxidants also reduce inflammation and help in slowing the disease’s progress.
Venous Thromboembolism:
Venous thromboembolism is used collectively for DVT (deep vein thromboembolism) and PE ( pulmonary embolism).
In DVT, there is blockage of deep veins in the body, and the formation of blood clots usually occurs in deep veins of the legs and thig.
In PE, there is blockage and formation of blood clots in pulmonary veins, causing shortness of breath, respiratory-dependent chest pain, coughing of blood, and most seriously, fainting and eventually death due to circulatory collapse.
The study shows that coffee drinkers have lower risks of Venous Thromboembolism than those who do not drink Coffee. The benefits include increased blood flow and reduced clotting factors in the body.
The Health Benefits of Coffee in venous thrombosis are not limited to better blood flow and reduced clotting factors, but consuming Coffee also reduces platelet aggregation.
Coffee consumption increases plasminogen activators and decreases plasminogen inhibitors in the body. The plasminogen activators increase the dissolution of blood clots and cause fibrinolysis.
Hence, Coffee is beneficial in patients with venous thromboembolism and helps in clot lysis and improved blood flow.
Benefits of coffee in Diabetes Type 2:
There are benefits if you are drinking coffee regularly. One of the significant benefits is that coffee consumption leads to increased insulin sensitivity and reduced chances of developing diabetes type 2 or other metabolic syndromes.
Regular caffeine from the coffee intake reduces insulin resistance in animal models. Insulin resistance is explained as when our body cells do not responds to already circulating insulin in the body; due to this, our pancreas has to work more to compensate for the need for insulin.
So chronic coffee intake is proven to be reducing increased insulin resistance and glucose intolerance in type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Coffee benefits in Bone Metabolism:
There is an increased activity of osteoclasts during bone disease, which are responsible for bone degradation. Naturally, osteoclasts work by supporting bone remodelling, but in disease conditions, there is increased activity of osteoclasts like in;
- Osteoporosis
- Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Periprosthetic osteolysis
- Bone tumours
Kahweol is a diterpene found in Coffee and is effective in various bone diseases. Kahweol exhibits beneficial effects by:
- Inhibiting osteoclast differentiation but not cell viability.
- It inhibits the bone-resorbing activity of osteoclasts.
- Inhibits the expression of osteoclast-marker proteins.
Reducing the Risk of Some Cancers:
There are many studies conducted, and it has been proved that consuming Coffee by, males shows a reduced risk of developing prostate cancer.
Sixteen studies up till 2020 were reviewed, and their data was collected. There were around 57000 patients with prostate cancer in these studies, and the total number of patients was above 100,00,00.
These studies show that the more coffee consumed, the more risk reduction in the patients.
Ending Note:
Coffee is a trendy drink and can be found in almost every home. The benefits that are associated with Coffee are numerous.
The consumption should be moderate and should not increase the recommended value of about four to five cups of 400mg of caffeine daily.
Coffee includes caffeine, which works as a stimulant for our body and helps us stay awake and alert. Many types of research are conducted to find out the health benefits of Coffee. Despite massive data and analysis, there is always room for improvement.
However, this does not signify that coffee should be taken in excess, as overconsumption can result in adverse effects such as insomnia, nervousness and irritability.
